**********
They set off the next morning after a short, but tearful goodbye. Lady Skie wore a flowing black gown to symbolize her grief over the death of Lord Michael and the destruction of Sevria. Her face was deathly pale as she kissed them all goodbye, and her hands trembled violently as she tried to wipe her tears away.
Before they set off, Damarius pulled Damion aside and handed him a heavy pouch of gold coins for supplies, and a small glowing orb that resembled a marble. “This is called a Sunburst. It may help in some way.”
Damion looked at it curiously. “How do I use it?”
The old wizard scratched his head, then shrugged. “I haven't a clue. I was never able to figure out how it worked. I thought maybe you would be able to figure out how to use it.”
Damion smiled, then placed the Sunburst in his belt pouch. “I will never be able to repay you for all that you have done for me. I will always be in your debt.”
“It is I who is your debt, young one.” Damarius said seriously. “It was an honor to be your teacher, though I can truthfully say that I learned as much from you as you did from me. This valley will always be here for you to call your home.” He gripped Damion’s arm for a moment, then returned to his daughter's side to watch as they disappeared into the forest.
They quickly made their way through the familiar forest and up the steep cliff sides that had sheltered Damion from the world beyond for so long. Once they had carefully made their way up the treacherous path, he couldn't help but take once last look down at the valley where he had spent nearly his entire childhood. He sighed deeply, a profound sadness in his heart as he wondered if he would ever lay eyes upon the tiny valley again.
Snowfeather, who had been silently circling overhead on the alert for any danger, swooped down and gently landed atop his shoulder. “You are sad. Is something wrong?”
He gazed down at the valley a moment longer, then turned and carefully began making his way down the rocky path, his long gate quickly catching him up with the others. “Tell me, what do you think of Kariah?” He asked silently. “Do you like her?” He looked ahead and watched as the young girl lightly skipped down the rocky path.
The huge owl cocked his head. “She seems acceptable, for a female. Have you changed your mind about taking her as a mate?”
Damion laughed aloud, causing the others to stop and look at him curiously. He blushed slightly, then laughed again. “Snowfeather just made a joke.” He explained, winking at Kariah mischievously.
She blushed a beautiful pink, then continued down the trail.
They pushed their way through the gullies and chasms that dotted the mountain passes well into the evening, pausing only once to catch their breaths before continuing on. Damion finally called for them to halt at dusk, noticing that Kariah seemed on the verge of exhaustion. They set up camp in a secluded clearing that was well sheltered from the elements.
Sly immediately set about making their dinner while Damion and Kariah began to gather wood for the fire. “We’re making good time.” He grunted to Damion as he began to cut a small smoked ham into uneven slices. “We’ve probably traveled twelve miles today. We should reach the remains of Sevria tomorrow afternoon.”
“Sevria?” Kariah gasped, growing pale at the mention of her village. “D-Do we have to go through the village? Can't we detour around it? I-I don't think I can bear looking upon its ruins again.”
Damion glanced at Sly, who nodded. “We can circle around and pick up the trade road a few miles south of the village. It shouldn't slow us too much.”
“What then?”
“We head for Crete.” Sly shrugged. “It’s at least a ten-day journey on foot, and the closest settlement to the south. We may be able to find someone who remembers stories of the sorcerer. We can follow the trail from there.” He pulled out a loaf of bread and began to hack off crude chunks for the others.
After they had finished eating Sly's crude attempt at dinner, they set out their bedrolls and tried to get some rest, trusting in Snowfeather's keen senses to detect any danger. They hadn't been asleep long when Damion heard the huge owl's familiar squawk.
“Damion! Wake up! There is something moving up the trail this way!”
Damion was instantly awake. He rose silently to his feet and grabbed his sword, then nudged Sly awake with one foot. The little man quickly rolled to his feet, sensing the danger. They could clearly hear the pounding of horse’s hooves growing steadily louder. Damion quickly slid to Kariah's side, and gently shook her awake.
She opened her eyes and looked up sleepily, then smiled, seeing him hovering over her protectively. “Damion? What...” She started, but was immediately silenced as he placed an enormous hand firmly over her mouth.
“Be very quiet.” He whispered. “We have visitors.”
She nodded her understanding, her eyes wide with fear. She quickly helped to smother the remains of their fire with dirt, then retreated back into the shadows.
“Damion! They're goblins!” Snowfeather reported, his sharp eyes piercing the gloom. “There are four of them.”
Damion relayed this to the others, then sat back to await the riders.
The goblins soon appeared from the darkness and reined their horses to a stop about twenty yards from where the companions lay hidden in the shadows. They watched as the ugly creatures grunted and squealed at one another, apparently arguing over which direction they should travel. Two of the creatures appeared to want to continue up the trail, while the others appeared to wish to turn back. They began to argue heatedly amongst themselves.
Sly nudged Damion and motioned to the horses the creatures were riding, then made a slashing gesture across his throat and pointed at the goblins.
Damion grinned viciously and nodded, then motioned to Kariah to remain hidden.
They silently circled the creatures, who continued to argue, unaware that they were being stalked. It was over in an instant. The pair leapt from the shadows and cut the creatures down before they could even react. After the last goblin had fallen, they quickly broke camp, and set off up the trail on their newly acquired mounts.
It took Damion several minutes to get the hang of riding a horse since his long tree trunk-like legs nearly dragged the ground, but after a little practice he was able to catch on, and they began to make much better time.
Once they had put several miles between themselves and the dead goblins, they pulled of the trail once more, and set up camp. They were back up early the next morning, and after Sly had carefully checked over each horse for injuries, they set off up the rocky trail at a careful walk.
“Goblins are notorious for stealing horses, riding them until they drop dead, then eating the carcasses.” The scruffy little man had explained to Damion as he checked over the last horse. “We were lucky. These horses appear to be in pretty good shape. We should still take it easy on them, though.”
They made great time on horseback, and reached the outskirts of the ruins of Sevria by mid-morning. They carefully circled around the ruined village to avoid the carnage, and joined up with the well-traveled trade road that crossed through the mountains, then started off towards the south at a brisk trot.
It was nearing dusk when they overtook a large group of ragged-looking refugees that were slowly pushing their way south through the mountains. Sly motioned for Damion and Kariah to hold back, then slowly moved his horse forward to meet the dispirited group. He spoke with a short balding man who was missing two fingers on his left hand, the apparent leader of the group.
After a few moments discussion, Sly returned to their side, his face grim. “I’ve got bad news. It seems our friend Kaviel and his pet dragon has paid a visit to Sierria. These are the survivors.” He gestured to the twenty or so dirty and injured people. “They fled into the mountains to Sevria, only to find it had also been razed to the ground. They’re hoping to find refuge in Crete.”
Damion cursed violently. “Did anyone see in which direction the dragon went?”
“It was last seen heading west. They said it appeared from nowhere, destroyed the city, and then flew off as several hundred goblins and dragonspawn moved in to finish the job. These few only made it out alive because they were working at the edge of town at the time, and were quick enough to get away.”
Damion cursed again, and his eyes flashed red with fury.
“One of the villagers mentioned that he had heard rumors that the dragon had a lair somewhere in the heart of the Endless Forest. It's supposedly been seen around in that area for the last several months now.”
Damion was silent for a moment. “Where is this Endless Forest? How far away is it?”
“At least six hundred leagues to the south.” Sly grunted. “But the dragon flew off to the west after attacking Sierra.”
“Let’s hope that it hasn’t already destroyed Crete. Finding out what happened to the sorcerer may be our only hope of finding the Dragon Sword.”
“What happens if we do manage to find it?” Kariah asked timidly.
Damion shrugged. “We go find the dragon’s lair and wait for it to return. Once we’ve dealt with it, I can finally get my hands on Kaviel.”
“How would we get there?”
“If my memory serves me correctly," Sly answered, scratching his scraggly beard absently. "We would need to follow this trade road through the mountains and into the foothills to Crete, then veer southeast to the city of Kairoia, and down through the grasslands of the Deola."
“What are Deola?” Kariah asked curiously.
“They are a band of nomadic tribesmen that live in the grasslands, following their vast herds of cattle and horses. They're fierce warriors, but they shouldn't cause us any problems.” He turned back to Damion. “Once we reach the White River, which divides the grasslands in two, we'll pass through Mercedia, the only permanent settlement in the entire plains. From there, we must cross the Misty Lake, then pass through a huge swamp that stretches for nearly a hundred miles in every direction.” He scowled. “It’s this swamp that’s got me worried. It's said that the dead walk the area at night, preying upon those who are foolish enough to enter.”
“Just superstitious nonsense.” Damion scoffed dismissively.
“I’m not so sure.” The little man grunted. “I’ve been hearing stories of that swamp for years now. It's said that everything that dies in that cursed place is doomed to spend eternity as the walking undead.”
“How awful!” The young elf maiden gasped, a hand flying to her mouth.
“I don't know for sure if the stories are true,” Sly muttered in a tight voice. “but I do know that none of the locals will even go near the place.”
Damion frowned. “We'll worry about that when the time comes. For now,” He glanced warily at the refugees who were trudging by eyeing their horses with greedy desperation. “I think we should press on before these people get desperate enough to try and relieve us of our mounts and belongings.”
He nudged his horse into a walk, and several of the refugees shrank back in fear as he passed. He felt the now familiar sick feeling in his stomach again, and nudged his horse again into a trot, wishing to quickly put their fearful gazes far behind.
They continued to push on for several more miles, then Damion finally called for them to halt for the evening in a secluded gulley not far from the trade road. The gulley had a small stream flowing through it, and a narrow opening that was easy to conceal with a few branches and bushes. Damion set about tending to the horses, while Sly began to gather wood for the fire so he could tend to dinner.
Much to Damion and Sly’s surprise, Kariah stepped in and firmly declared that she would handle the cooking from then on, going as far as threatening Sly with bodily harm if he was to ever even think about attempting to throw together one of his crude meals again. She banned him from fireside, then immediately set about making a savory stew from some of the rations in their packs.
After dinner, they immediately settled down for the evening, desperate for a good night's sleep.
It was a few hours before dawn when Snowfeather's keen eyes detected a furtive movement near the mouth of the gulley. A tiny figure was slowly edging its way closer to the edge of their camp, making no sound as it crept through the shadows.
“Damion!” Snowfeather's silent warning brought Damion instantly awake. “We have company again! It's moving through the shadows at the edge of camp!”
Damion carefully cracked one eye open and spotted the intruder a few yards away, slowly moving towards where he lay. He remained motionless until the figure was within striking range, then lashed out with a powerful kick that swept the figure’s legs out from under it, sending it crashing to the ground. He instantly leapt from his bedroll and grabbed the figure, pinning it to the ground by its throat. It fought ferociously to get away, and he was surprised at the amount of effort it took to hold it down.
Sly, who had been awakened by the commotion, finally jumped up and helped him subdue the shadowy figure. They dragged their tiny prisoner closer to the fire to have a closer look, and were startled to find their intruder was a little boy of about four or five, with pale skin and shockingly red hair.
Kariah, who had been awaken by the scuffle, gasped in disbelief. “It’s only a child!”
“This isn't any normal child.” Damion disagreed, shaking his head and staring intently at the young boy. “He’s far too strong to be just a normal human child.”
The boy looked up at Damion in mild surprise. “That is very observant of you.” He said in a piping voice, clearly impressed. “I knew that you were special when I first saw you.”
Sly gave Damion a questioning look, then asked the boy. “Who, and what, are you? And why were you trying to sneak into our camp?”
The boy shrugged off the little man's grip irritably. “My name is Dar. I am an Alena.” He rose to his feet and dusted himself off. “Did you have to be so rough?” He complained. “I wasn't trying to hurt anyone. I was just trying to get a better look at him.” He nodded at Damion, who looked baffled. “I have been following you for the last week. I needed to know if my suspicions about you were true.”
“What suspicions?” Damion demanded angrily. “Why were you following us?”
“And what is an Alena?” Sly added grumpily.
Dar looked at Sly as if he had been mortally insulted. “Alena are one of the elder races. We are cousins to the elves, and have been walking this earth long before you humans even existed. We live for thousands of years, and are eternally youthful in appearance.” He gave the little man a disgusted look. “I would have thought everyone had heard of the Alena.” He sighed heavily, shaking his head. “Perhaps we've remained aloof from the world for too long.” He glanced at Damion, his blue eyes far wiser than any normal child. “I first saw you a little over a week ago. I was following a rumor that a dragon had been sighted in the mountains, and I had encountered a large group of dragonspawn and goblins that had gathered together in a secluded clearing. As everyone knows, dragonspawn and goblins are mortal enemies, but these creatures weren't fighting. It seemed they had joined forces. If that wasn't strange enough, they were being led by a human.”
“White hair, with a badly scarred face?” Sly asked, though his tone indicated he already knew the answer. The little boy gave him a startled look, then nodded. “His name is Kaviel. He is the one who controls the dragon.”
Dar nodded again. “So I discovered. I tracked him down and was hiding in the forest watching him from the shadows when he suddenly vanished into thin air. Then, a few minutes later, the dragonspawn and goblins who had been following him descended on one another. Once the battle was over, you appeared.” He gave Damion an appraising look. “I knew something was different about you the first moment that I laid eyes on you. Your aura is the most unusual I have ever seen. Once you finished off the remaining dragonspawn, I watched you vanish, only to be replaced by a huge black panther!”
Damion and Sly exchanged glances, but sai
d nothing.
“I followed the panther back to the rest of your party, and saw you reappear and battle another group of dragonspawn.” He watched Damion closely, his expression one of almost reverence. “That was when I saw you begin pulling fireballs from thin air and start laying waste to the creatures. You slaughtered nearly every dragonspawn single-handed! I have never encountered anyone with such raw power!”
Damion grunted, his expression like granite. Kariah’s eyes had grown wide with the story of his prowess, and she looked at the young boy with a new-found respect.
“It was then that I realized exactly what you were! You are Dragonkin! All the signs were there! Your immense size, your aura, not to mention your brow scales! You have the blood of dragons flowing in your veins!” The strange boy's eyes were filled with wonder.
Damion's face darkened. “Why do you call me that?”
“Because that is what you are! The blood that pumps in your veins is the most noble of all, and everything about you reflects that fact! That is the source of your magic, and the reason that you are far larger, and enormously more powerful than any normal man! You are kin to the dragons!”
“Why were you following the dragon in the first place?” Sly asked, his expression one of suspicion.
The boy's face fell, and his expression grew grim. “The dragon that this human, Kaviel, is controlling is named Tempest. She is the largest, most powerful of all the dragons. She vanished over four hundred years ago, along with the rest of her kind.” His voice filled with sadness. “They were trapped inside of a huge red gem by a supremely powerful sorcerer by the name of Balik.”
“The Dragon Gem.” Damion and Sly said in unison.
Dar looked surprised. “You have heard this story before?”
Damion nodded. “We have heard of the Dragon Gem. We’ve been trying to discover if it was more than just a legend.”
“It is no legend.” The boy replied. “I was there. I witnessed the sorcerer Balik enslave the dragons inside of that cursed gem.” He hung his head in shame. “I tried to reach him in time to stop him, but he disappeared before I could reach him. I have been searching for the gem ever since.”
“Why are you so concerned about the dragons?” Sly asked in confusion.
“Because they are my friends.” Dar answered simply. He looked to Damion. “After seeing your power and abilities, I decided to follow you. Once you reached that small valley in the heart of the mountains, I decided to abandon your trail and continue my search for the Dragon Gem. It was three days later when I saw you for the second time, and I overheard that you were also in search of the dragon and the human that controlled it.”
“So you wanted more than just a closer look at us, then.”
Dar shrugged his tiny shoulders. “I thought perhaps we may be able to help one another.”
“Why would you wish to help us?” Sly demanded suspiciously. “What’s in it for you?”
The boy looked at Sly with thinly veiled distaste. “Because I wish to see my friends released from their prison. They do not belong enslaved inside of that cursed gem, and it is my intent to see that they are released!”
“What?” Damion exclaimed, shocked at such a thought. “Are you insane? You wish to release the dragons into the world? They would destroy everything they encountered! If they were released, there wouldn't be any place left in this world that would be safe!”
Dar looked outraged. “That’s not true! Dragons are not evil and destructive creatures! They are intelligent, noble creatures that do not deserve to be enslaved!” He stared at Damion angrily. “They are innocent creatures wrongly imprisoned! They do not deserve the fate that has befallen them!”
“What that beast did to my village wasn't peaceful!” Kariah said, her face pale. “It destroyed my home, and slaughtered my family!” Huge tears welled up in her eyes.
“That was the human's handiwork.” The boy argued. “He controls Tempest as long as he possesses that gem. And if he discovers how to unlock the Dragon Gem's full power, there will be nothing in this world that can stop him.”
“The Dragon Sword!” Damion exclaimed. “So it does exist?”
“Aye,” The boy nodded. “It exists, and if Kaviel is able to get his hands on it, this world will be his to control.”
“Where is the sword now?”
Dar shrugged. “It was stolen centuries ago. Someone murdered the sorcerer that enslaved the dragons, and made off with the sword. I was never able to discover who it was.” He looked at Damion earnestly. “You have to help me recover the gem so we can release my friends from their prison.”
“You can't be serious.” Damion scoffed. “I’m going to find the Dragon Sword, and then I’m going after Kaviel, but not to release more dragons upon the world. I'm going to make him suffer for murdering my father, and then I'm going to destroy that gem!”
The boy looked at him with a grave expression. “You will never find Tempest's lair in the Cursed Forest without my help. The only chance you have to stop Kaviel is to catch him unaware, and I’m the only one who knows the way to her lair."
“And why should we believe you?” Sly asked harshly.
“Because I have called that forest my home for the last two thousand years.” Dar said bluntly. “And because you have no other choice.”
Damion pulled the little man to the side. “What do you think?” He asked quietly. “He seems to be telling the truth. If he really does know a way through the forest to the dragon’s lair, then we should take him with us.”
“Do you really think we can trust him?” Sly asked, staring at the unusual child with a hard expression. “How do we know he's not lying just for an excuse to join us? Anyone, or anything, that wishes to release an entire race of dragons upon the world must be unbalanced, to say the least.”
Damion was quiet for a long moment, then turned back to Dar. “You can lead us through the forest directly to the dragon's lair? You know exactly where it is located?”
The small boy nodded. “I have been there many times in the past.”
“What exactly can you tell us about the Dragon Gem? Does it have any weaknesses?” Sly asked.
Dar shook his head. “It hasn't any weaknesses or flaws. It was created from a flawless ruby, and enchanted to enslave the dragons and drain them of their magical essence, storing it to be called upon by whoever possesses the gem.”
“And the Dragon Sword?”
The boy frowned. “From everything I have been able to gather over the last four hundred years, the sword is the key that unlocks the gem's true power. It was created by a dwarven swordsmith that had been rumored to dabble in the dark arts. He crafted the sword from the purest steel, and quenched it in the blood of a dragon. The handle and pommel are crafted in the shape of a dragon in flight, with the tail curling around itself to form a large empty setting meant only for the Dragon Gem. Without the sword, Kaviel can only use a fraction of the gem's power.”
“We can't allow Kaviel to get his hands on that sword.” Sly said, tugging at his scruffy beard worriedly. “If he can find it, there will be nothing that could stop him. I wonder if anyone in Crete remembers this dwarf.”
“They should. His still lives there.”
“What?” Damion blurted in surprise.
“Well, he is a dwarf after all. They live much longer than humans.”
“Have you ever met him?”
Dar shook his head. “Dwarves and Alena do not intermingle. We despise one another. My people especially loathe this dwarf. He is known to all my people as the Dark Forger. The evil one who uses dark forces in his crafting.”
“Then that’s where we will start.” Damion decided. “We’ll continue to Crete and track down this dwarf. Hopefully, he’ll know what happened to the sword."
But Dar was no longer listening. He stared intently into the darkness at the mouth of the gulley for several long moments, then abruptly began to sniff at the air. He suddenly turned back to the others, his eyes wide wit
h alarm. “We have company!” He warned them in a loud whisper. “It’s an ogre, and judging by the smell, he's close!”
A blood-curdling bellow suddenly echoed through the mountaintops, making everyone jump in surprise, and causing the horses to begin to pace back and forth nervously. Damion and Sly immediately drew their swords and gestured for the others to seek refuge behind them.
Snowfeather flew off into the darkness to investigate, and within moments Damion heard his familiar’s voice silently in his head. “It’s an ogre, all right! And by the looks of it, it has caught the horses' scent! It's moving straight for the camp!”
“It’s caught our scent!” Damion warned the others. “It’s heading right for us!”
No sooner than he finished, the ogre burst into view at the mouth of the gulley. The huge howling beast stood almost eight-foot-tall, with pinkish-gray mottled skin that bore countless scars that crisscrossed its malformed frame. Coarse, wiry hair hung from its body in matted clumps, giving it an almost diseased appearance, and two long, razor-sharp tusks jutted up from its lower jaw. It had little more than two large openings in its flat face for a nose, and its tiny, inhuman eyes were completely devoid of any intelligent thought. It carried a huge club that was little more than a tree trunk that had been uprooted and stripped of its branches, and the horrid smell that accompanied the beast was nearly overpowering. It howled another howl of rage and hunger as it spotted them, then attacked with amazing quickness, swinging its club at Sly with a vast overhand swing.
Damion instinctively pushed the little man out of harm's way and jumped aside as the club slammed into the ground exactly where they had been standing only a second before, then stepped forward to meet the creature's charge. He nimbly ducked another wild swing, and lashed out with his sword, marking the creature across the chest, but the ogre didn’t even seem to notice, and he was forced to fall back as the crazed beast renewed its attack. It charged towards him, then stopped, roaring furiously in pain as one of Sly's daggers sank deep into its shoulder.
It was exactly the opening Damion had been waiting for. He instantly drew in his magic and sent a blast of searing flames directly into the snarling ogre's unprotected face. It screamed in pain and fury as the flames engulfed its entire head, then dropped its club and began pawing at its eyes desperately.
In a flash, Damion sprang forward and drove his sword with all his strength straight into the ogre's chest. It suddenly froze in its thrashings, and gazed stupidly down at the long sword protruding from its chest. It tried to raise its arms, but with a mighty heave, Damion drove the blade even deeper into its barrel-like chest.
An enormous fountain of dark red blood erupted from the ogre's mouth, and its legs suddenly buckled. Damion calmly yanked his sword loose, and allowed it to collapse to the ground, where it lay twitching. He nonchalantly wiped the blood from his sword on the ogre's matted fur, then slid it back in its sheath.
“That was amazing!” Kariah exclaimed, rushing forward and throwing herself into Damion's arms. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life!”
He blushed a bright crimson at her praise and unexpected embrace, then turned to look at Sly, who was watching him with an amused grin. “We should get moving.” He said, gently trying to untangle himself from the elf maiden's embrace. “We may have drawn unwanted attention to ourselves. Besides,” He grimaced, covering his nose with one hand. “That thing really stinks!”
They quickly gathered their belongings and set off in search of a place that they could spend the rest of the night in safety, leaving the ogre's stinking carcass where it fell.